1872 low compression, low power under load

[olds45512]

The manual also says you should pull the heads every 500 hours to clean the piston and inspect the valves, if its never been done it might not be a bad idea to pull the heads and true them and clean the carbon off the piston.

[Gaden]

I had the same symptoms on my 1872 last summer, after cleaning/adjusting the carb and replacing all fuel lines to no avail, I found it had a leaking head gasket. As Tim said, cleaning the carbon off of the valves and piston is a required maintenance. Pulling the engine and removing the tins and heads might seem intimidating, but it's really not bad at all. It's also a good opportunity to give the engine that really good cleaning it needs and to clean and re-lube the starter drive.

[J-Mech]

I'm not big on pulling heads and cleaning. If you keep a motor tuned and running right, you shouldn't need to do it that often. I've put almost 1000 hours on my 1811 since I bought it. Never had the heads off. It had a new motor in it when I got it.

[Gaden]

Originally Posted by J-Mech

I'm not big on pulling heads and cleaning. If you keep a motor tuned and running right, you shouldn't need to do it that often. I've put almost 1000 hours on my 1811 since I bought it. Never had the heads off. It had a new motor in it when I got it.

I couldn't argue with that, when I pulled my heads there was no carbon build up at all after about 550 hours.

[JohnHill88]

Thanks guys!